Representatives of Walgreens Chief Executive Stefano Pessina reached out several weeks ago to representatives of Amerisource CEO Steven Collis. They discussed the possibility of Walgreens buying the portion of Amerisource it doesn't already own, though there isn't an offer on the table, the reports said.

The companies are in early-stage talks to combine, the Journal reported cautioning that no deal is imminent and there may well not be one.